Can I like….. remember to post these.

Featuring an Alicorn OC of my friend’s named Phantom. He specializes in Shadow Magic and technology.

And Celestia, who I tend to write with the characterization of “It’s a wonderful day and I am a horrible Alicorn”. Untitled Alicorn Game.

“I’m pretty sure if you just tried what I suggested, it would work better,” Celestia said, watching Phantom work and finding herself more bored the longer it took. “Please, just give my idea a chance?”

Phantom shook his head, eyes on his project still. “It’s fine, Celestia. I’ve done this many times before, I don’t need your help.”

It wasn’t intended as an insult, but Celestia heard it as such. Her right ear twitched, and her mouth curled into a frown. With a loud huff, “Well, if that’s how you feel…”

Celestia could have let it go. If she was a better person in that specific moment, she would have let it go. But she wasn’t, and so she didn’t. After all, why let it go when she could get even?

She walked over to Phantom’s bookshelf, every book perfectly organized by author and subject. Celestia looked back at Phantom, completely absorbed in his work and not paying attention. Good.

Celestia quickly rearranged the bookshelf, alphabetizing them by title instead of author and grouping them together by the colour of their spines. She then moved to leave the room, no hint of guilt on her face or in her voice. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

She waited outside the door for a moment, and just as she started to walk away, she heard Phantom’s voice on the other side, “Seriously?!”

Celestia teleported away.

#

“I know it was you who rearranged the bookshelf,” Phantom told her, the accusation having no effect on Celestia whatsoever.

“I’m appalled you’d think I would do such a thing,” Celestia responded, once again without even a single shred of guilt in her eyes or her tone. “Why would I?”

“I don’t know why but I know you did it,” Phantom grumbled, so focused on Celestia that he didn’t notice she’d casually levitated his slice of cake over to her plate. He had more important things to worry about, like the total lack of remorse on the Sun Alicorn’s face.

“I’m sure it had nothing to do with you being so dismissive earlier,” Celestia rolled her eyes, thinking to herself that maybe she was going too far, that maybe she should give it back before Phantom noticed she took it. “You were quite rude.”

“Stating a fact isn’t rude,” Phantom argued, still oblivious to what Celestia had done. “And the fact is I have more experience with this than you do. I really don’t need help. Not from you, anyway.”

Celestia immediately stopped feeling bad about it and just started eating the cake. “I really don’t think it will kill you to at least consider it.”

“But I don’t…” Phantom finally noticed the cake slice was missing from his plate. He couldn’t help but look at her, baffled at what she’d done. “H-Hey!”

“What?” Celestia asked, looking completely innocent. She finished the slice of cake, her smile growing ever wider.

#

The project had been taking longer than Phantom would have liked, certainly not helped by the fact that some of his tools had gone missing. He found one of them in the freezer of all places, one of them was stuck to the ceiling, and an entire box had been rearranged in a manner that, while functional enough, wasn’t his way of sorting things and therefore he disliked it on principle.

This had mysteriously happened after yet another conversation with Celestia about trying her idea, and so Phantom reasoned she’d been the one to do it. She’d already rearranged his bookshelf and stolen his slice of cake, so this brand of pettiness would fit her.

It also didn’t escape Phantom’s notice that all of his blankets and pillows were replaced with brightly coloured, eye-searing ones that clashed so horribly with his coat and his entire aesthetic that he knew she had to have been responsible for it. And finally, Celestia had taken his blueprints from right in front of him, and he’d spent a good chunk of the day chasing her around the Crown Palace to retrieve them.

Real mature.

Well, if Celestia was going to behave in this way, that just made Phantom all the more determined to finish his work without her input. Let her get mad and stay mad, he didn’t care. She hadn’t worked with anything like this for anywhere nearly as long as he had. Why should he concern himself with…

Oh. So that was the problem. He had been dismissive, hadn’t he? Not intentionally, but it’d come across that way, and he’d made no attempt to clarify what he actually meant. And Celestia had dealt with it by doing all of… this. He should have seen it coming.

Phantom looked over at the project again. For all his insistence that he’d considered her idea, he really hadn’t. It wasn’t because she’d been rude when she first approached him about it; she’d been nothing except polite. He didn’t pay attention to it because he didn’t think he could learn anything from her, when their experiences were so different.

But she’d been making several attempts to learn about the Crown’s way of doing things and to fit in with everyone else when the Shadow Realm and Equestria held nothing in common. And he wouldn’t even listen to her for one second.

With a sigh, he tried to remember what she suggested to him and actually give it some real thought. Perhaps it would work after all, the more consideration he gave it.

He sat down at the table and got to work.

#

“Oh, you finished it?” Celestia asked, staring at it while Phantom tried to ignore that she’d rearranged another shelf of his again. “That was quick.”

She gave him a pointed look, and Phantom could tell that she was waiting for him to speak.

“Yes, I admit it, you were right,” Phantom finally said, eyes on the finished work. He gave her a smile. “It did help me get it done faster. Thank you.”

“I thought it would,” Celestia smiled back. “By the way, I brought you something.”

A slice of cake, not unlike the one she’d casually stolen from Phantom earlier. He gave it a look, and then looked at her. He smiled again. “Thanks.”

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why am i so bad at endings